Fallujah Presents a Test of Resolve

As Assault Nears, U.S. Troops
Will Depend on a Combination of Factors

By

Greg Jaffe Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Nov. 8, 2004 12:01 a.m. ET

As U.S. forces appeared to launch an assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, victory will be determined by how well the Iraqis fighting alongside the Americans perform, how Sunni Arabs throughout Iraq react, and whether the new Iraqi government is able to control the city after U.S. troops pull back to their bases.

"This is primarily a political battle. Fallujah has little to no military significance. But every day the insurgents hold that city is a political and psychological victory for them," said...